Select a full-length film and identify the title, writer, director, major actors, and the year it was released.
Title: The Searchers
Writer: Frank S. Nugent (Scr)
Director: John Ford (Dir), Wingate Smith (asst dir)
Major Actors: John Wayne (Ethan Edwards), Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley), Vera Miles (Laurie Jorgensen), Ward Bond, (Capt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Clayton), Natalie Wood (Debbie Edwards)
Release Date: May 26, 1956
Summarize the story and plot of your chosen movie.
Director: John Ford (Dir), Wingate Smith (asst dir)
Major Actors: John Wayne (Ethan Edwards), Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley), Vera Miles (Laurie Jorgensen), Ward Bond, (Capt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Clayton), Natalie Wood (Debbie Edwards)
Release Date: May 26, 1956
Summarize the story and plot of your chosen movie.
In 1868 Texas, Rev. Samuel Johnson Clayton, or Sam (Ward Bond) announces that there have been cattle stolen from Lars Jorgensen's ranch. In response to this, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne), Sam, and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) join a posse to find the thieves for their neighbor. Upon discovery of the stolen cattle, there are Comanche lances found as the weapon of attack. Ethan realizes that this was a trick deployed by the Comanche to lure the cattleman away from their ranches so that the Comanche may raid them. They return to the Edward's home to find that all have been brutally murdered except for Lucy and Debbie (Natalie Woods), who have been kidnapped. Once the search is under way, Brad Jorgensen goes on a scouting mission and discovers what he thought to be Lucy's blue dress in an Indian camp. Ethan then tells Brad that he discovered Lucy's body in a canyon where he buries her. Brad had loved Lucy and once he hears this news, blinded by grief, he rides into the Indian camp where he is killed. Lars Jorgensen tells the searching party of a Texas merchant who claims to know who is holding Debbie hostage. They exchange money for the knowledge and name of Chief Scar. When the men find Debbie, they are shocked to hear that she does not want to go with them, instead she pleads to stay with the Comanche. After some trials and tribulations back home, they are called upon by the Texas Rangers to join Col. Greenhill for a "join punitive action" against the Comanche. They execute an attack on the Comanche party, kill and scalp Scar, and rescue Debbie; even after Ethan's contempt towards her for wanting to stay with the Indians (American Film Institute, n.d.).
Discuss whether your film is presented chronologically, or non-linearly.
The Searchers is presented chronologically. It has one story line, with events that follow a chronological order until there is a resolution to the problem presented earlier in the story.
How did the aesthetic choice contribute to the general effect on the audience?
The aesthetic choice effected the audience by tying in a sense of family and love. The searchers are looking for women that were kidnapped from their families and to avenge the death of those that were already murdered. It also pulls the heartstrings with the love between the young men and the kidnapped women.
How are elements like character development, or foreshadowing impacted by the choice of storytelling methods?
One example of the impact of the storytelling method in The Searchers is through character development. In the beginning of this movie, Ethan (John Wayne) is very bitter towards anything and anyone who has to do with the Comanche. Even people who now live with the white people, including Debbie (Natalie Wood) and Martin (Jeffrey Hunter). By the end Ethan goes from wanting to kill Debbie for wanting to stay with the Comanche, to feeling love and acceptance when she is finally rescued. It also effects foreshadowing. In the beginning it explains that Martin is part Cherokee and is treated coldly by Ethan because of this. However it was Ethan who saved him from an attack when his parents were massacred years before. This foreshadows the event of Debbie being saved by Ethan, although she too has a connection to the Comanche (American Film Institute, n.d.).
If the film had followed a different presentation style, how would the general effect on the audience have been different?
If the presentation of this film had been different, it would have seemed more barbaric; like men chasing down Comanche Indians for no reason; or even fun. With the sense of revenge for death of the rancher's family members and to bring back the others who were alive, their actions are justified in a sense. It poses a few questions to viewers; what would you do in this situation? How would you handle the loss of a loved one under these circumstances?
Resources
American Film Institute. (n.d.). AFI's 10 Top 10. Retrieved from http://www.afi.com/10top10/moreDetail.aspx?id=53577&thumb=1
